Chapter 3 - The third floor had been closed for eleven years.After my wife died, I stopped using it.
I told everyone it was because I did not want memories haunting empty rooms.
The truth was simpler.
There were too many.
Her perfume.
Her books.
Her piano.
The bedroom where she had once slept beside me.
I had turned the entire floor into a sealed museum of things I could not bear to touch.
Now one floorboard had been lifted.
I knelt.
Underneath was a small metal box.
No lock.
No dust.
It had been placed there recently.
Inside was a folder.
The first document was a photocopy of my will.
The second was a map of my estate.
The third was a list of my medications.
The fourth made my hands stop.
SUBJECT: JULIAN MERCER
ESTIMATED WINDOW: 60 TO 90 DAYS
Underneath were handwritten notes.
Symptoms.
Episodes.
Potential causes.
The final line read:
Natural cardiac event remains highly plausible.
I heard footsteps behind me.
I spun around.
Nobody.
Then another sound.
The elevator.
Someone was coming up.
I grabbed the folder and slipped into the old bedroom.
The elevator doors opened.
Victor stepped out.
He did not call my name.
He walked directly toward the room where I was hiding.
I held my breath.
The door opened.
Victor entered.
He looked at the floorboard.
Then at the empty space.
His face became expressionless.
He knew.
I backed toward the wardrobe.
Victor picked up a small device from his pocket.
A phone.
He made a call.
“They found it.”
Pause.
“No. He hasn't called the police.”
Another pause.
“I'll handle him.”
My stomach tightened.
Victor ended the call.
Then he stood perfectly still.
“You can come out now, Julian.”
I did not move.
He smiled.
“I know you're in here.”
I stepped out.
Victor did not look surprised.
He simply sighed.
“You shouldn't have gone looking.”
I held the folder.
“What is this?”
“A plan.”
“To kill me?”
Victor looked at the papers.
“To replace you.”
I felt something cold move through my chest.
“Who?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Victor stared at me.
“You built a world where everyone depends on you.”
“I built the company.”
“No.”
His voice was suddenly harder.
“You built dependence.”
I said nothing.
Victor stepped closer.
“Every person around you has a reason to stay. Employees need salaries. Your board needs access. Your family needs money. Your friends need protection.”
“And you?”
“I needed you alive.”
“Needed?”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said:
“You already made that mistake.”
I felt my heartbeat accelerate.
“What mistake?”
Victor's face softened.
“The same one you're making now.”
“What?”
“Trusting someone who looks frightened.”
He turned.
Then stopped at the doorway.
“There is something else you should know.”
I waited.
“Sophia saw more than you think.”
My blood ran cold.
“Stay away from her.”
Victor glanced over his shoulder.
“I haven't touched her.”
“Don't.”
He smiled.
“That's the problem with children. They notice everything.”
He walked away.
I waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then I called Gabriel.
“Bring two men. No uniforms.”
“What's happened?”
“Victor knows I'm looking.”
“How?”
“He found me on the third floor.”
Silence.
“Julian.”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
His voice had changed.
“What?”
“The laboratory called.”
I closed my eyes.
“What did they find?”
“The pill.”
I waited.
“It wasn't your medication.”
I looked down at the white tablet in the evidence bag.
“What was it?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“They haven't identified the exact compound yet.”
“Was it dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“How dangerous?”
“Dangerous enough that your doctor said taking it could have caused a fatal event.”
I stared at the folder.
Then at Victor's notes.
The planned window.
The symptoms.
The attempt to make it look natural.
This had not begun this morning.
It had been unfolding for months.
Maybe longer.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“Lock down the house.”
“Already done.”
“No. Lock down everyone.”
There was a pause.
Then he said:
“I'm not sure we can.”
“Why?”
“Because someone just used my security credentials.”
The line went dead.
A second later, every light on the third floor went out.
Complete darkness.
May you like
Then my phone screen illuminated with one final message.
CHECK YOUR WIFE'S PIANO.
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